Inplate crack

Paul Dionne of Glen Ridge Dental Arts, also serving the Montclair area, explains the steps you should take if you notice a problem with your dental implant and discusses implant restoration.

Dental implants can break if too much pressure is applied to them before they have fully osseointegrated, or bonded, to your jawbone.

Other parts of your new tooth can also break. Wear and tear can cause the abutment, the tiny piece that connects your implant to your crown, to break. If your implant doesn't feel quite right, the problem may also be due to a broken screw in the abutment. The dental crown that's visible above your gum line must be replaced approximately every 10 to 15 years or longer. If you eat very hard foods, chew on ice or use your teeth to open packages, your crown may not last that long.

If the implant itself has broken, the only choice is to remove it and replace it with a new implant. Some people need bone grafts before they can receive a new dental implant. Bone grafts strengthen and deepen your jawbone, ensuring that it will be strong enough to support the implant. If you require a bone graft, you'll have to wait a few months until your implant can be placed in your mouth.

Not only did it hit magnitude 8. All along that coast is a tectonic border, between the Cocos Plate in the ocean, and the North American, Caribbean, and Panama Plates that make up the Central American land mass. As such, the region is no stranger to quakes and tremors as the edge of the Cocos Plate moves beneath the continental plates.

But the Tehuantepec quake on September 7, and the slightly smaller magnitude 7. These start off normally, with the tectonic plates colliding, and one starting to slip down underneath the other. It bends upward, sliding itself horizontally beneath the plate Mexico sits on top of. It dives almost vertically downward, plunging itself deep into the Earth's mantle. NASA radar data revealing the ground movement of the quake.

This buckles and bends the tectonic plate, a bit like a piece of wood, or a strip of thick rubber. The bolt pattern and dowel pins may be drilled improperly. When this occurs the vehicle is likely to have continued problems with flexplate breakage.

A dial indicator may be used to check symmetrically designed engines. On non-symmetric engines, special jigs and complex measurements may be needed. Slight misalignment may only cause a single flexplate to break in the life of the vehicle. More severe misalignment can break a flexplate in 15, to 30, miles. Excessive crankshaft flange run-out or end plate can also cause flexplate cracking. This may occur in worn engines or engine that have been poorly rebuilt. An engine, transmission or torque converter that has been dropped may also have damage that will cause misalignment.

When a running engine ingest water or coolant, the crankshaft may be bent. Liquids will not compress and immense force is placed on the crankshaft and rods. This sometimes happens with a leaking intake manifold or driving on a flooded street. The bent crankshaft will have run-out at the flange and may have continued problems with flexplate cracking.

The same things that cause the flexplate to crack can also cause transmission problems.